CrossTec Releases Driver-Centric Firewall, the NetOp Desktop Firewall

Dec. 20, 2004
NetOp Desktop Firewall centrally manages the restriction of ports, protocols, programs, and IP addresses of corporate laptops and desktops

CrossTec Corporation, the North American distributor for the NetOp product line, has announced the release of a new addition to the NetOp family. The NetOp Desktop Firewall, developed by Danware Data A/S, is designed to protect enterprises from the vulnerabilities associated with the use of laptop machines on a corporate network. '

The NetOp Desktop Firewall, the world's first driver-centric firewall, addresses the security needs that corporations encounter when their employees take their corporate laptops outside the protection of the perimeter firewall. Going beyond the traditional firewall, the NetOp Desktop Firewall offers sophisticated process and application control, protecting all computers on the corporate network while insuring laptop security. '

The centrally managed firewall restricts traffic in to and out of network machines via port, protocol, and IP address. Additionally, the NetOp Desktop Firewall provides process control to limit which applications run on each user's machine. This way, only applications, significant to a user's needs, are run on their computer, controlling the execution of malicious applications; such as viruses, worms, spy-ware, and ad-ware. The firewall's centralized management utility enables the creation of corporate policies that provide protection whether on or off the corporate network. '

"The NetOp Desktop Firewall prevents travelling laptops that connect to a company network from spreading infectious material to other network machines. What's more, the NetOp Desktop Firewall can be centrally managed to ensure that users can't override security policies. With the application's centralized management, administrators can edit users' profiles and security settings in real-time," Albert Caballero, technical product manager for the NetOp Firewall explains. '

In today's security threatened enterprise environment, perimeter firewalls are not enough to ensure the protection of corporate machines. Laptops that travel beyond the protection of the perimeter firewall and then reconnect to the trusted network pose a serious security risk to corporate machines. As Thomas Raschke, Program Manager for European Security Products & Strategies at IDC, comments, "A little known but very serious threat is the fact that more than half of all the security related incidents that result in quantifiable damage stem from within the firewall, for example as a result of disgruntled employees, careless partners, or other authorized users that either intentionally or unintentionally introduce malicious programs and damage an organization's network."

The NetOp Desktop Firewall offers the ability to centrally manage and control the configuration of all the desktop firewall activity on a private network. Network administrators can easily define and manage, in real time, the security level of each PC. By centrally applying profiles, administrators can ensure that security settings are adjusted automatically according to the computer's environment. Additionally, processes can be centrally allowed or denied, eliminating the threat of malicious programs within the first critical minutes of infection.

Unlike standard desktop firewalls where application controls, if any, are very basic, the NetOp Desktop Firewall offers a sophisticated approach to process control. The perfect supplement to a perimeter firewall, the NetOp Desktop Firewall provides security that is 100% at the driver-level ' granting maximum protection to the user, even if the firewall application itself is not running. Due to the application's kernel-level operability, the NetOp Firewall is, in effect, always on; ensuring that all network traffic is restricted and any risk of a security breach is eliminated.

Driver-level security for both communication and process control stops unwanted attacks and processes from occurring on a computer. This technology places security control in the hands of IT administrators to prevent end users from making unauthorized changes to, or disabling, the security configuration of the firewall of their laptops when it suits them.

The NetOp Desktop Firewall recognizes different security profiles depending on a user's location. Unlike other desktop firewalls that might recognize the environment but depend on individual users to ensure that security is upheld, the NetOp Desktop Firewall automatically selects the appropriate security profile based on the type of environment. In fact, end users can't interfere with the security level. For example, users will be able to do what they need to do when using their laptop at home, but the security level shifts to high-level protection once they return to work, so that their company and colleagues are protected.